The situation stunk. And over time, so did Isaak's nose. "We noticed a weird smell when he breathed," said Craig Lasson. "We took him to a new doctor, and he said, 'I think there's something in there.'"

Isaak admitted he'd "put some spaghetti in there that hadn't come out," his dad said. But there was only one way to find out. An ear, nose and throat specialist snaked a tiny camera up the boy's nostril to spot the mystery object. "There it was," said Craig Lasson. "A big ball of fungus in his sinus."

Buried in the ball, pulled from Lasson's sinus with long forceps, was a squishy rubber wheel. "We have no idea what it is or where it came from," said Isaak's dad, adding that the dime-size wheel could be a piece of Lego or part of an ear bud headphone.

"We were trying to figure out how something that big even got inside of a tiny 3-year-old's nostril. It is pretty flexible, so we think he bent it in half and pushed it up his nose." Wherever the wheel came from, it now sits in a container atop the family's fridge. "Isaak thinks it's great," said Craig Lasson. "He wants to show all his friends."

Beyond having a great story, Lasson sleeps better and has more energy, according to his dad. His appetite has also improved, since he can finally smell his mom's cooking.

"As parents we felt guilty at first for not finding it sooner, but we had no idea that anything like that could have been in there," Craig Lasson said. "But everyone's been so supportive. It sounds like a lot of parents have similar stories."